Tara Joy: Meet the Yorkshire creative making artwork out of bridal bouquets

Up until then Tara had spent years casting the foot and handprints of babies, not just in artwork to hang on walls, but in wearable sterling silver jewellery.

“It was a friend who said to me ‘if you can do babies hand and footprint casts, can you do anything with my wedding bouquet’?”

For Tara the process of rolling the flowers into clay and taking a plaster impression as a sentimental keepsake was a continuation of the skills that had become second nature to an artist who isn’t afraid to experiment with style.

“I roll the flowers into the clay using a large rolling pin. I pull the flowers out and they leave an impression. The frame is put around the section you want to cast and I pour sculpting plaster into the frame. Then you release the frame and pull the clay off the sculpting plaster to leave the cast.”

Drying lasts two to three weeks, during which time the cast develops characteristics which can be retained or removed depending on the client’s specifications.

“It is cleaned up and finished to whatever the client wants. It can be painted, I also hand paint – they can be finished in watercolour. If the client wants them framed I can frame them,” says Tara, referencing her framers, The Art Shop in Ilkley and Art Works in Otley.

Two botanical casts are displayed side by side on the solid wood table dominating Tara’s workspace within the family’s Ilkley home. The square and circular casts of the freesia, sweet peas, verbena and decorative foliage are an artistic keepsake of the client’s bridal bouquet.

Photographs of the pink and cream themed blooms freshly arranged in the bouquet are displayed alongside Tara’s plaster impressions made from the original flowers filling two vases on a nearby work surface.

“It is capturing as much of the bouquet as possible,” says Tara. In the nearby workroom, where the electric ceramic kiln she uses to fire her artwork takes centre stage, a selection of individual ceramic tiles, featuring flowers from the same bridal bouquet, line the worksurface.

The thoughtful thank you gifts will be given as a sentimental keepsake to the bridesmaids and others who played a part in the couple’s special day.

Another bouquet she was asked to cast came through her contact, a school friend, at The Outpost in Kent where Tara lived before marriage to a Yorkshireman brought her to what is now her home county.

Despite the distance, Tara received the flowers by post and was able to cast them into a sentimental wall art.

“It’s special and it is nice creating something you know is really important and sentimental to somebody. You are also capturing the beautiful flowers they have spent a lot of money on, and it is nice for them to create something from their wedding flowers so they have a beautiful piece of artwork.

"It is a timeless piece. I love making them for the bride and it is a nice way of keeping memories going,” says Tara.

Working with flowers not only gave her a fresh outlook for her business, it has become an integral part of the wildflower-inspired stock, botanical diffusers, decorative hangings, leaf-shaped trinket dishes and wall art, she produces for her Etsy shop.

She also supplies her artwork and tiles to Nora’s Interiors and Gifts, and Moss and Moor Garden Centre, Ilkley, and galleries including The Outpost in Kent and the Solar Gallery in the Manor House, Ilkley.

Inspired by the wildflowers she sees interspersed within hedgerows on dog walks with the family pet, Peanut, around the rural scenery and panoramic vistas surrounding her home in the former spa town, Tara planted seeds she sourced from a supplier to plant her own.

Outside borders, visible from her workspace, provide a pleasant area for Tara’s plants to grow wild.

“When we moved to this house I wanted a cat and a dog. We got Peanut and go out on lots of walks and that is when you start looking at nature and the hedgerows and the beauty of it.

"When flowers grow wild they are more robust and have a lot more texture and I really like the wildflower look,” says Tara, whose interest in the plant impression possibly stems from the Textile and Design course she studied at De Montfort University, Leicester.

Interestingly, she didn’t pursue art as a career and, latterly, was working as a senior buyer for Hallmark Greetings Cards before motherhood intervened.

Working for herself not only gave her the flexibility to fit around her two children, Tara Joy Botanical Art and Ceramics brought the opportunity to get creative again.

Tara’s botanical work isn’t just limited to the bridal market. The increasing popularity for creative kitchen and bathroom splashbacks has led to home interior commissions becoming a large part of Tara’s business.

In-keeping with the current trend for natural designs, Tara has pressed wildflowers from her home garden into the small individual earthenware clay tiles displayed on the tabletop workspace.

The tiles, for a client’s kitchen, are finished with a clay glaze. The hand-painted greenery creates a rustic look in-keeping with the countryside-inspired style.

“I love brambles and they are the most amazing leaf because there is so much texture on them. I also love wild poppies,” says Tara. Cow Parsley is another plant Tara incorporates into her wall art and decorative hangings.

For a more personal touch, some clients choose to incorporate flowers from their own garden into the design.

Within the same table space another splashback, also created from small individual tiles, brings a colourful contrast to the natural look. Each tile featuring hand-painted buttercups, forget-me-nots and poppies.

“It is rustic, it is hand-crafted. I am not interested in man-made, that is not what I am about. You can tell it is hand-made.”

Tara is also grateful for the support she receives from local florists, Vanessa Wildflower; Erica Berry and Leafy Couture, where she often sources some of her flowers. “I like supporting local businesses. I am a small business myself and I think we all need to help each other.”

Hosting workshops gives Tara the opportunity to share the enjoyment she gets from her art – and enables participants to produce creative keepsakes from the sessions she runs at Just Makers in Ripley; Artison in Masham; Yorkshire Craft House in Bingley and, the latest location for this year, is Hare Hill Barn in Cumbria.

In the 18 months since starting the workshops Tara says they have grown in popularity.

“I get a lot of people who are gardeners, some florists, people who love nature. I think the botanical theme is current at the moment. It is a low stress workshop and there is instant gratification. They can bring flowers from their own garden and it is getting messy, getting dirty and tactile.

"People are definitely enjoying the workshops and switching off from what is going on in their day to day life and immersing themselves in something completely different.”

To help profile her work, Tara previously participated in the Ilkley Arts Trail and produced some pieces this year for ‘Made in Yorkshire’ at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show.

“I feel really fortunate that I can create things that people love and want, and also I am very fortunate that I am doing something that I really enjoy doing and sharing that with other people.”